The Mat and the Mind: How Jiu-Jitsu and Education Intersect to Build Better Humans

I consider myself a student of life in the constant state of becoming. At 42 I completed my PhD in Education and after securing a faculty position, I sought out a new learning challenge. Welcome my dear friend and coach, Kirby Farrales. After a chance meeting at a local park, our families became close friends, our children grew together, and Coach Kirby and his wife, Coach Rose, welcomed my children in the summer of 2016 onto the Jiu-Jitsu mats at Beacon MMA. This was during the early stages of my PhD, so I postponed my own martial arts journey until 2021. However, as I sat and watched my children train, the countless other children train, and the many, many adults train, I couldn’t wait to close my books and replace them with spats and a Gi, with endless visions of one day having the honor of Coach Kirby tying a Black Belt around my waist.

Jiu-Jitsu isn’t only about wrist locks and cross-collar chokes, it’s about growth. At its core, it’s a system of learning that mirrors the best of what we aim to cultivate in educational settings: curiosity, problem-solving, resilience, and respect. Whether you’re in a classroom or on the mat, the goal is the same - learn, adapt, and become 1% better than you were the day before. Education teaches us how to think; Jiu-Jitsu teaches us how to remain calm and think under pressure - they are one in the same. Both environments (should) reward consistent effort, self-reflection, and openness to feedback. In Jiu-Jitsu, a common phrase is “you either win or you learn”. I like to think we learn no matter the outcome of a roll. Likewise, in school, every challenge—from mastering quadrilaterals to writing argumentative essays—is a step toward intellectual growth.

Both disciplines value process over perfection. You don’t have to be the best in the room—just someone who shows up, works hard, and continues to learn. As a student in his forties, this resonates deeply, and I try to instill this same ethos into my students.

Promoting Health and Well-Being…Beyond the Physical

Beyond the intellect, Jiu-Jitsu builds full-body strength, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility, and the residual mental benefits are equally as powerful. Regular training can reduce stress, sharpen focus, and promote better sleep and mood regulation. Personally, my wife finds me to be a more patient and attentive husband, where I was once more reactive and now more reflective. For children especially, these physical routines become foundations for lifelong health and wellness habits, while their actions on and off the mat can lead to the best of anti-bullying campaigns, as Jiujitsu promotes confidence in individuals while also creating social upstanders.

In educational settings, this is vital. Healthy kids learn better. They focus longer, engage with lessons and inquiries more, and have higher attendance. Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t only promote fitness, it reinforces the mind-body connection essential for holistic learning and our connection to one another. In many ways, the humbling moments, the discomfort and struggle we experience on the mat, can lead to growth on the mat, in our families, and inside the school walls.

Building and Cultivating a Culture of High Expectations

In Jiu-Jitsu, no one is too young or too old to be held to a high standard. The belt system isn’t just about color. More importantly, it’s about responsibility, humility, and growth. The same is true in effective classrooms. When children and adults are challenged with high but achievable expectations, they rise. They stretch themselves. And they realize their potential isn’t fixed—it’s flexible and expandable. In jiujitsu, earning a new colored belt takes on new meaning. The process can take much more time and effort than in other martial arts. For example, I am in the third year of wearing my blue belt, and I have no expectation of achieving my purple belt at the next team promotion day. Rather, I focus on my progress, on my small tangible goals, and on growing with my teammates. One of the constant mantras espoused by our instructors is “keep showing up.” I have migrated that philosophy into my own classrooms at the college-level with the hope that my students will focus more on their growth as educators rather than the grade on each assignment.Jiu-Jitsu instructors, like good educators, don't lower the bar—they teach students how to reach it.

Jiu-Jitsu and education are not separate paths. Rather, they are complementary avenues that lead to a common goal: a better you. Regardless if you are entering a fifth grade classroom or beginning your doctoral program, we can remain in the constant state of becoming, training the mind and body through knowledge, action, and reflection. The gentle art of learning, whether on the mat or in a classroom, prepares individuals to be disciplined, compassionate, strong individuals who can better the collective whole. In the end, whether you're shaping a young mind or pushing your own limits, both the classroom and the mat deliver lessons that can transform a life.